1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shoe having improved fitting properties.
The present invention can apply to various kinds of shoes such as wrestling shoes and tennis shoes. The present invention is useful especially for fastening shoes without shoe laces to the foot.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shoes, for example for wrestling or tennis, having an inner upper covered with an outer upper, are known.
These type of shoes require that the inner upper can be easily fastened to the foot. On the other hand, because there are many movements of the foot in the widthwise direction when the player is doing the above mentioned sports, it is necessary to make the shoe fit to the foot and to support the foot so as to prevent displacement between the foot and the shoe.
It is known to fasten the upper of a shoe to the foot, by the use of fastening belts at the medial and lateral sides of the foot. For example, shoes disclosed in the following documents employ such a method.
In the shoe disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 02-33611 (FIGS. 8 and 9 thereof), belts are pulled up in the vicinity of an arch on the medial and lateral sides of the foot. Such belts support the arch on the medial and lateral sides of the foot and its vicinity, but they cannot support the foot in the vicinity of the distal caput of the fifth metatarsal bone of the foot.
In the shoe disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-112510 (Abstract), belts are pulled up in the vicinity of caput of metatarsal bones on the medial and lateral sides of the foot. The belts prevent the motion of the ball of the foot on the medial side of the foot. The shoe does not fit to the foot on the medial side.
In the shoe disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 08-131201 (FIG. 1 thereof), a lace or belt is turned back (folded back) many times and then tightened near the ankle. As such lace or belt stretches during wearing the shoe, a sufficiently tight fit cannot be obtained. Moreover, such lace or belt cannot be used when the shoe has an inner upper covered with an outer upper.
The shoe of U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,419 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 60-227701) may sufficiently support and fasten the foot at the top side of an upper, that is, a leg part of the shoe. However, a reinforcing member is integrated with the upper at the side faces of the upper, the function of supporting the foot at a lower side of the upper and the function of fitting a sole to the foot are insufficient.
In the shoe of U.S. 2003/0029057 A1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open 2003-125805), the medial and lateral sides of the foot are fastened with belts symmetrically. Therefore, when a distal caput of a fifth metatarsal bone is supported, the ball of the big toe of the foot is prevented from moving freely.
The shoe of U.S. 2003/008144 A1 has a bumper support on the lateral side of the fore foot part in addition to a strap for fastening the mid foot part. However, although the bumper support can prevent displacement between the shoe and the ground, displacement between the foot and the shoe cannot be prevented.
In the shoe of U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,468, as clearly shown in FIG. 9A thereof, straps are fixed to lower portions of the mid foot part and the rear foot part on the lateral side of the foot. Therefore, the vicinity of the distal caput of a fifth metatarsal bone cannot be supported.